A Peek Outside the Bubble

We are doing surprisingly well with jetlag, which is helping this whole transition a lot. We are still waking up (really) early, but even with that we are lasting until 9pm. At some point I expect we will hit a wall, but until then, we’re just going with it.

Today that meant a golf cart trip around the neighborhood, and a walkthrough of the kids school. These friends were homeschooled with our girls, so it was even more interesting to see their school and talk to them about changes of attending such a large and international school now. They enjoyed pointing our where their classes are, as well as eaxh of the extra curricular activities they are part of. When i asked my girls what they would think of attending a school like that, they summed up their thoughts with, “It’s big.” They’re not so sure about that – but a visit was really interesting.

After the tour of the school, we had to make an important stop…

Any time I can, I stop in a Starbucks when traveling. I need my mugs! So in for a mug purchase, and a relaxing Venti Decaf Americano. Aaaahhhh…

It was then on to finish the loop-tour of the neighborhood, and duck just outside the neighborhood to stop at a Thai version of 7-11 to pick up a couple of bottles of water.

Our afternoon was a trip to what sounds a bit odd – We went to the mall. One of the things I had read about was how the Thais love their malls. Its dry, air conditioned, and a great place to hang out. The kids went to see Moana – we have to have our priorities here. We may be in Thailand, but there’s a Disney movie to be seen!

The adults browsed the mall which can easily lull you into feeling you are in a Western mall, until you come upon the flea-marker-esque stalls of shoes and fur wraps.

We explored the Thai version of a dollar store, the new food court, and food stalls set up in the middle of one floor.

We did pick up a taste: pork & noodles, with some sauce that definitely included garlic.

Once we picked up the kids from the movie, we had to make one stop…

In the end, we didn’t eat there, though one daughter is quite insistent that she has to eat at McDonalds at least once while we are here. We’ll see. We compromised and had Dairy Queen, and ordered in pizza…

Not to worry, food and everything will be getting more adventurous from here.